This is a first for the “Big Three” – the “big three” manufacturers, namely General Motors (GM), Ford and Stellantis – in eighty-eight years. Members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) auto union began protesting at midnight at three sites – a GM plant in Missouri, a Stellantis plant in Ohio and a Ford plant in Michigan – due to lack of have reached an agreement. In total the three sites have approximately 12,700 UAW union members. The strike could spread very quickly, indicates the Financial Times.
The union’s president, Shawn Fain, ordered the approximately 146,000 union members working for these three historic manufacturers to be ready depending on the evolution of the negotiations.
In a press release sent to UAW union members, minutes after the strike began, Shawn Fain declared: “This fight is a defining moment for our generation. Not just within the Big Three, but for the entire working class. […] We will defend ourselves. We will defend our families. We will defend our communities.”
New collective agreements at stake
The “Big Three” and the UAW have been in discussions for several weeks about the implementation of new collective agreements. The union is demanding a 36% wage increase over four years, but the three American manufacturers do not want to go further than 20%, according to the union leader. The three historic giants of Detroit have also refused to grant additional days of leave and to increase pensions, provided by funds specific to each company.
In a statement released Thursday evening, as the strike loomed, the Ford Motor Company said the UAW counterproposal, which it received Thursday evening, “showed little progress toward the union’s initial demands submitted on August 3. The UAW lowered its wage increase request to 36 percent, while automakers increased their initial offers by up to 20 percent.
Another point of tension: the transition to electrification of the automobile industry. Manufacturers need billions of dollars to invest in the factories and tools needed to build battery-powered cars and trucks, notes the Financial Times. But, at the same time, they are creating electric vehicle battery joint ventures with non-unionized, lower-paid workers. The UAW thus seeks to ensure that industrial jobs continue to be better paid and unionized as the sector becomes electrified.
The risk of stopping a third of American production
“We told businesses, from the beginning, that September 14 (at midnight) was a deadline, not a milestone,” Shawn Fain warned on Wednesday. For his part, Ford boss Jim Farley criticized him Thursday afternoon for being “busy preparing for a strike [au lieu de négocier] this contract when it is about to expire”, on the channel CNBC. “[L’UAW] wants to have a historic strike in all three groups when we want to make history with a historic agreement,” he added. For its part, Stellantis said it had submitted a third offer of wages and benefits to the union and wait for a response. GM said it wanted to continue negotiating in good faith, making “strong additional offers.”
Also on CNBC, Ford’s chief executive said that if his company had acceded to the UAW’s request, it would have “already lost $15 billion and gone bankrupt.” The American press underlined this Friday morning that a strike would potentially be “a brake” on the American economy. The consulting firm Oxford Economics estimates that if all unionized workers at the three auto companies went on strike, it could lead to the shutdown of around a third of American auto production. This would directly reduce US gross domestic product by up to 0.3% on an annualized basis, the consultancy said.
The strike comes at a time when union actions are increasing in American industries. Writers and actors walked out, major airline pilot unions won four-year contracts to raise wages by a third or more, and United Parcel Service workers, represented by the Teamsters, got a raise wage of $7.50 per hour over five years.